Strong wind spreads fire through Gelderland barn, killing 50,000 chickens

A fire in a barn in Puiflijk left roughly 50,000 chickens dead on Wednesday morning. Firefighters needed several hours to extinguish the flames, which first broke out around midnight on Zevent, a street in the Gelderland village. Heavy winds from Storm Henk made the task difficult for the fire department.

There were two barns with 50,000 chickens each on the property. One of the two was badly damaged, but fire department crews managed to save the second barn. Company employees who reside next to the stable discovered the flames and contacted the fire department, according to NOS. The fire swept through the building at a rapid pace, making it impossible for the workers or first responders to rescue any of the animals.

"Due to the strong winds, it was very difficult to extinguish the fire, and also the smoke development was unsafe, and thus the fire department advised people in Druten to close their windows and doors," a spokesperson for the Gelderland-Zuid emergency services office said on social media. Puiflijk is located within the municipality of Druten.

The two barns were separated by a fire suppressing wall, but there were no sprinklers in either building. A sprinkler system was not required for barns of that size, a Gelderland-Zuid emergency office spokesperson told NOS.

The alarm was reported just after 12 a.m., and was quickly elevated twice in less than 30 minutes, bringing more firefighters and equipment to the scene. The flames were extinguished at about 3:15 a.m., but firefighters remained on the scene to handle any flare-ups. Firefighters used two aerial platforms, a large water tanker, a foam extinguishing vehicle, and six sprayer trucks to tackle the fire.

Although the production of smoke had largely stopped, the emergency services office warned that a foul odor could remain for some time.